More than 6,000 international experts on HIV-AIDS will gather in Vancouver this weekend to share the latest scientific advances in the fight to eradicate the disease, which first emerged almost 35 years ago and exploded into a global pandemic.

The 8th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention will bring together researchers, clinicians, community leaders and public health experts from around the world. It's the second time that Vancouver has hosted an IAS meeting in the last 20 years.

“This conference really is a focal point for the exchange of scientific information regarding HIV and AIDS,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS, which is co-hosting the meeting.

If you think about the founding Sisters, they arrived in Vancouver friendless and penniless. They showed a lot of courage and perseverance to finance and build the original hospitals and sites. Because of that early spirit, Providence tends to recruit people who care about looking after the poor and disenfranchised, and who are committed to providing a high quality of care. The approach to patients and residents is different than I have seen elsewhere.”